"The automatic mixer was on a clean cycle, but still harbored bits of sticky dough. "

I would kill for my Kitchenaid to do this.

This was adorable, utter fluff. It's hard to picture Shepard being domestic in any way (Kaidan is much easier), but this worked because of the tie to her family, and it worked very well. And anyone who bakes (and especially those of us who stress-bake) is quite familiar with the odds that one will crumble emotionally when something fails at the end of a recipe - and you definitely captured that perfectly.

Also, you are evil. You totally mislead my mind to the gutter with that last bit. Evil. Evil. Evil. :D